Compensation package remains controversial after changes

City Council on Wednesday officially appointed Scott
Stiles as interim city manager, but only after a testy exchange over the
compensation package left three of eight present council members as
“no” votes.

The package gives Stiles a raise if he returns to his previous role as one of two assistant city managers, which three council members said is unfair to lesser-paid city
workers, such as trash collectors, and the other assistant city manager, David Holmes, who won’t get comparable pay increases.

The package appoints Stiles to the city’s top job at a
salary of $240,000 a year, less than the previous city manager’s
$255,000 salary.

If the city appoints someone other than Stiles as
permanent city manager, Stiles will be placed back in the assistant city
manager role with a $180,000 salary, roughly $33,500 more than the
other assistant city manager.

If a permanent city manager decides to relieve Stiles of
the assistant city manager position, the city will be required to make a
good faith effort to find Stiles some form of employment within the
city until 2018, which would allow Stiles to collect his full pension
payment upon retirement.

Council Members David Mann, Charlie Winburn, Amy Murray,
Kevin Flynn and Christopher Smitherman voted in favor of the appointment
and package, while Chris Seelbach, Yvette Simpson and Wendell Young
voted against it. P.G. Sittenfeld was absent.

Simpson and Seelbach said they have no problem giving
Stiles a $240,000 salary while he’s in the interim city manager
position, but both argued it’s unfair to other city workers to give only
Stiles a raise if he’s reappointed as assistant city manager.

Simpson pointed out that the package would also increase
the city administration budget if the new permanent city manager decides
to keep Stiles and Holmes as assistant city managers at the agreed-upon
salaries.

Mayor John Cranley argued Simpson, Seelbach and Young were
trying to introduce a new standard that wasn’t present in the previous
council, where Simpson, Seelbach and Young were in the majority
coalition.

“I would have appreciated long-term thinking when I was
saddled with a $255,000 severance payment,” he said, referencing a
severance package the previous council gave to former City Manager
Milton Dohoney after Cranley announced Dohoney would resign on Dec. 1.

Simpson argued the severance package wouldn’t have been
necessary if Cranley agreed to keep Dohoney on the job until a permanent
replacement was found.

“It’s our job to protect the taxpayer,” Simpson said.

Vice Mayor Mann pointed out that if the city doesn’t fill
the assistant city manager role while Stiles presides as interim city
manager, the city will actually save money by leaving a salaried
administrative position vacant for six months.

Cranley previously said the city will conduct a national
search for a permanent city manager. Council members at Wednesday’s
meeting estimated the effort should take six months.

Work began yesterday on an audit of Cincinnati’s $132.8
million streetcar project, but streetcar supporters are upset the audit
will only look at the costs and not the potential return on investment.
The city hired KPMG, an auditing firm, to review the
streetcar’s completion, cancellation and operating costs by Dec. 19, the day the federal government says it will pull up
to $44.9 million in grants funding roughly one-third of the project.
Losing the federal funding would most likely act as a death blow for the
project, since most local officials — even some streetcar supporters —
say they’re unwilling to allocate a similar amount of funding through local sources. Mayor John Cranley and City Council asked for the audit before they decide whether to continue or permanently cancel the project.

Meanwhile, streetcar supporters yesterday kicked off a
petition-gathering campaign to get a city charter amendment on the
ballot that would task the city with continuing the streetcar project.
But given the federal government’s Dec. 19 deadline, it’s unclear
whether the ballot measure, which could go to voters as late as May,
stands much of a chance. Streetcar supporters say they’ll lobby the
federal government to keep the funding on hold until voters make the
final decision on the project.

A City Council committee yesterday voted to rescind council’s support for a supportive housing complex in Avondale that would
aid chronically homeless, disabled and low-income Cincinnatians. But
because National Church Residence already obtained state tax credits for the project in
June, it might be able to continue even without council
support. The committee’s decision comes in the middle of of a
months-long controversy that has placed neighborhood activists and
homeless advocates at odds. The full body of City Council could make the
final decision on its support for the project as early as today’s 2
p.m. meeting.

City Council could also move today to repeal a
“responsible bidder” ordinance that has locked the city and county in
conflict over the jointly owned and operated Metropolitan Sewer
District (MSD). The conflict comes at a bad time for MSD, which is under a federal mandate to revamp the city’s sewer system. Councilman Chris
Seelbach argues the ordinance, which he spearheaded, improves local job
training opportunities, but opponents claim it places too much of a
burden on businesses and could open the city to lawsuits. CityBeat covered the issue in greater detail here.

Some City Council members are concerned Interim City
Manager Scott Stiles’ compensation package could act as a “golden
parachute.”

State Sen. Eric Kearney of Cincinnati yesterday resigned
as running mate for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald.
Kearney’s decision came after media outlets reported that he, his wife and his
business had up to $826,000 in unpaid taxes. The controversy grew so
thick that Democrats decided Kearney was too much of a
distraction in the campaign against Republican Gov. John Kasich.

An Ohio House Republican pitched a proposal that would
slightly increase the state’s oil and gas severance tax, but the
industry isn’t united in support of the measure. When it was first
discussed, the House plan was supposed to act as a downscaled but more
palatable version of Gov. Kasich’s proposal, which received wide
opposition from the oil and gas industry.

Speaking against a bill that would tighten sentences
for nonviolent felony offenders, Ohio’s prison chief said the state is
on its way to break an inmate record of 51,273 in July. The state in the past few years attempted to pass sentencing reform to reduce the
inmate population and bring down prison costs, but the measures only
registered short-term gains. The rising prison population is one reason
some advocates call for the legalization and decriminalization of drugs,
as CityBeat covered in further detail here.

More than one-third of Ohio third-graders could be held back after they failed the state
reading test this fall. But
the third-graders will get two more chances in the spring and summer to
retake the test. Under a new state law dubbed the “Third Grade Reading
Guarantee,” Ohio third-graders who fail the reading test must be held
back starting this school year.

The Federal Transit Administration on Friday gave Cincinnati until Dec. 19
to make a final decision on the $132.8 million streetcar project before
it pulls up to $44.9 million in federal grants. The decision gives the
city less than two weeks to finish its audit of the project’s completion
and cancellation costs, which should be conducted by global auditing
firm KPMG. The streetcar project would presumably die without the
federal grants, which are covering roughly one-third of the project’s
overall costs, even if a majority of council or voters decide to
continue with the project.

Mayor John Cranley might veto legislation continuing the streetcar project,
even if a majority of council agrees to restart the project after its
costs are reviewed through an independent audit, said Jay Kincaid,
Cranley’s chief of staff, on Friday. If Cranley vetoes, council would
need a supermajority — six of nine votes on council — to continue the
project, which could be difficult since there are only two perceived
swing votes on council. The veto threat presents a bait-and-switch for
many streetcar supporters: Only five council members voted to pause the
project on Dec. 4 while the city reviews completion and cancellation
costs, but six members might be needed to continue the project if
Cranley reviews the audit and decides it is still too expensive.

Cincinnati Parks Department Director Willie Carden, Mayor John Cranley's choice for city manager, withdrew from consideration
on Friday. In making the announcement, the mayor’s office said it will
keep Acting City Manager Scott Stiles in his current role while the city
conducts a national search for a permanent replacement. Carden’s
nomination was initially well received by council members, but it grew
somewhat controversial after Carden insisted he will continue to live
outside Cincinnati — a violation of the city charter — and The Cincinnati Enquireruncovered an ethics probe that found Carden wrongfully took pay from the city and private Parks Foundation.

The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) fell short on recommendations
from a previously undisclosed 2012 survey of the region’s business needs. In particular, CVG most likely won’t be able to meet the key recommendation to land Southwest
Airlines, a discount carrier that could help bring down fares and
increase travel destinations.

City has until Dec. 19 to make decision on project

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will allow Cincinnati to keep $44.9 million in federal grants for the $132.8 million streetcar project until midnight on Dec. 19 while the city reviews the costs of canceling or completing the project, Mayor John Cranley announced on Facebookon Friday.

The FTA's decision gives the city two weeks to assemble a team and conduct its audit, which a slim majority of City Council agreed to do on Wednesday when it put the streetcar project on pause.

Without the federal grants, the streetcar project would have lost one-third of its funding and presumably died, even if a majority of City Council decided it wants to continue with the project.

The city is currently working to hire KPMG, an audit, tax
and advisory firm, for the audit, according to Jay Kincaid, Cranley's
chief of staff.

Council members David Mann and Kevin Flynn in particular asked for the review before they make a final decision on the streetcar.

Streetcar Project Executive John Deatrick previously warned the costs of completely canceling the streetcar project could nearly reach the costs of completion
after accounting for $32.8 million in estimated sunk costs through
November, $30.6-$47.6 million in close-out costs and up to $44.9 million
in federal grants.

Mann and Flynn were among a majority of council members who voiced distrust toward Deatrick's estimates, hence the need for an independent review.

A mayoral veto would require both Flynn and Mann to help provide a supermajority — six of nine council votes — to save the streetcar. That could prove a considerably higher hurdle than a simple majority of five council members.

Mayor to launch nationwide search to fill position

Cincinnati Parks Department Director Willie Carden, Mayor John Cranley's choice for city manager, has withdrawn from the nomination process, the mayor's office announced on Friday.

The mayor's office said it will keep Acting City Manager Scott Stiles in his current role while it launches a nationwide search for a permanent replacement.

"After consulting with my family, we have
come to the personal, private decision that it is best for me to remain as the director of the Parks Department," Carden said in a statement. "John Cranley is going to be a great mayor and
this is a difficult decision for me. But
it’s simply about what is best for me and my family. As a personal matter, I would ask that you
respect our family's privacy."

Carden's nomination initially drew wide praise from City Council, but it was snared in controversy after Carden said he will continue to live outside Cincinnati — a violation of the city charter. The Cincinnati Enquirer also uncovered an ethics probe that found Carden wrongfully took pay from both the city and the private Parks Foundation.

Councilman Chris Seelbach responded ambivalently to the news, praising both Carden and the decision to go through a national search.

"Although I would have supported Willie Carden as the permanent city manager, I'm glad to see we are now going to undertake the process we
should have taken all along," Seelbach posted on Facebook.

When Cranley announced the nomination on Nov. 27, the Charter Committee, Cincinnati's unofficial third political party, criticized Cranley for not undertaking a transparent national search prior to his decision.

City Council's Rules and Audit Committee almost considered Carden's nomination on Tuesday, but the decision was delayed for a week to give council members time to interview Carden one-on-one and evaluate ordinances for the nomination.

Decision means City Council might need a supermajority to continue streetcar project

Mayor John Cranley might veto an ordinance continuing the $132.8 million streetcar project, even if a majority of City Council wants the project to continue after its costs are reviewed through an independent audit, said Jay Kincaid, Cranley’s chief of staff, on Friday.

The decision means six of nine council members — a supermajority — might be required to overturn a mayoral veto and continue the streetcar project. With only two perceived swing votes on council, that could prove a considerably higher hurdle than a simple majority of five council members.

“Of course he reserves the right to veto the legislation,” Kincaid said.

If Cranley reviews the numbers and decides that the project is too costly, he will use the veto powers provided to him through the city charter, Kincaid explained.

Kincaid’s response came after CityBeat confirmed with City Solicitor John Curp that continuing the streetcar project would require a new ordinance that, in theory, could be vetoed by the mayor. City Council can overcome a mayoral veto with a supermajority, or six of nine total council votes.

When CityBeat talked to Kincaid the day before he confirmed Cranley’s willingness to veto, Kincaid speculated that Cranley would not veto legislation continuing the streetcar project.

“I have not talked to (Cranley) about it. I assume that he would let it go forward since he gave (Councilman) David Mann his word that he would give this time to review it, and he gave the same assurance to (Councilman) Kevin Flynn,” Kincaid previously said.

Streetcar Project Executive John Deatrick previously warned the costs of completely canceling the streetcar project could nearly reach the costs of completion after accounting for $32.8 million in estimated sunk costs through November, $30.6-$47.6 million in close-out costs and up to $44.9 million in federal grants that would be lost if the project were terminated.

Almost immediately, a majority of council voiced distrust toward Deatrick’s numbers. In a press conference following Deatrick’s presentation, Cranley called city officials in charge of the streetcar project “incompetent.”

Council members Flynn and Mann vocally opposed the streetcar project on the campaign trail. But both said they’ll make a final decision on the project once the cancellation and completion numbers are evaluated through an independent review.

Flynn wouldn’t speculate on what stance he will take if the numbers stand to scrutiny. He said a pressing concern for him is how the city will pay for $3.4-$4.5 million in annual operating costs for the streetcar, which could hit an already-strained operating budget.

If Cranley vetoes an ordinance continuing the streetcar project, both Flynn and Mann would likely need to agree to continue — or at least overturn a mayoral veto — to keep the streetcar alive.

City officials estimate the review will take at least two weeks. Once the audit is finished, council members are expected to announce their final positions on continuing or canceling the project.

Update: Mayor John Cranley on Friday announced the federal government is giving Cincinnati until Dec. 19 to make a decision on the streetcar project. Read more here.

This story was updated to better explain that Jay Kincaid’s second direct quote came from a separate conversation on Thursday, the day before he announced Mayor John Cranley’s willingness to veto.

City Council on Wednesday allocated
$1.25 million to indefinitely pause the $132.8 million streetcar project
and study how much it would cost to continue or permanently halt the
project.

If the study's continuation and
cancellation estimates aren't persuasive enough to continue the project,
the vote could effectively act as council's final action on the
streetcar.

Prior to the 5-4 votes to pause
the project, streetcar-supporting council members proposed a motion that
would use private contributions to allow construction to continue for
one week while the city studies the costs of cancellation and
completion.

The motion came as a result of the
Haile U.S. Bank Foundation's offer to pay for the $250,000 study. An
undisclosed private contributor also offered to pay $35,000 a day for
slowed-down construction, which supporters say will keep the project
within Federal Transit Administration (FTA) compliance.

During
a brief recess, Councilwoman Yvette Simpson pulled Vice Mayor David
Mann out of the council chambers to lobby him to support the motion and
hold off on pausing the project.

Mann
articulated misgivings with the absence of any written commitment for
the private contributions. Given the lack of assurances, Mann voted to
pause the project.

Mann
claimed a proper study will require at least two weeks, not the one
week the motion allocates. But the undisclosed private contributor is
apparently willing to pay for construction for 10 business days if it's
deemed necessary, according to Mann.

The motion could still be taken up by a committee, but the streetcar project is on hold for now.

Council's final decision to pause the project came despite a memo
released earlier in the day by the city administration warning that
pausing the project for one month could cost $2.56-$3.56 million. The memo states the numbers are only estimates and the
true costs won't be fully known until a pause is actually carried out,
which means the final costs could shrink or grow.

Streetcar
Project Executive John Deatrick previously put the cost of continuing
construction for one month at $3 million, which means the pause costs
could actually come in higher than simply continuing with the project.

Deatrick on Nov. 21 warned the costs of completely canceling the streetcar project could nearly reach the costs of completion
after accounting for $32.8 million in estimated sunk costs through
November, a potential range of $30.6-$47.6 million in close-out costs
and up to $44.9 million in federal grant money that would be lost if the
project were terminated.

But the five council members opposed to the project — Mann, Kevin Flynn, Christopher Smitherman, Amy Murray and Charlie Winburn — voiced distrust toward the estimates and called for further analysis.

Streetcar
supporters argue pausing the project could be tantamount to
cancellation because it could convince the FTA to permanently pull $44.9
million in federal grants that are funding one-third of the project.
The FTA already froze the grants pending a council decision to continue with construction.

Opponents of the project insist the FTA will return the money if the project continues.

"I
hope that the spirit of cooperation that many members of this council
think will come from the federal government is there," said Councilman
P.G. Sittenfeld, a streetcar supporter.

But
given the estimates for completion and cancellation, Sittenfeld
cautioned whether history will look poorly on council's decision on
Wednesday. He asked, "Did we choose waste or did we choose opportunity?"

Councilman
Chris Seelbach, a streetcar supporter, said it has been "the most
destructive, divisive three days" since he began working at City Hall.

At
one point, Cranley attempted to compare problems facing the streetcar
project to the business failures of Blockbuster and other video stores.

Councilman
Wendell Young, who supports the project, responded, "This idea that a
bookstore or a video store can be compared to what's going to happen to
the streetcar is about the most ridiculous comparison I can think of."

Supporters
of the streetcar project argue it's necessary to spur development along
the 3.6-mile loop in Over-the-Rhine and downtown. The project would
generate a 2.7-to-1 return on investment, according to a 2007 study from
consulting firm HDR that was later verified by the University of
Cincinnati.

Opponents of the project argue
it's far too expensive and the wrong priority for Cincinnati. They're
particularly concerned about the $3.4-$4.5 million it will cost to
operate the streetcar each year, which could hit an already-strained
operating budget.

After the study
reviewing the project's costs is completed, council expects to make a
final decision on whether to continue or cancel the project.

City Council plans to vote
today on 11 ordinances that would indefinitely pause the $132.8 million
streetcar project while council members review and weigh the costs of
cancellation versus the costs of completion. The measures are expected
to pass. Because they each allocate at least $100,000 in funding, the
ordinances are not susceptible to referendum. Although Mayor John
Cranley repeatedly defended the “people’s sacred right of referendum” in
opposition to the parking privatization plan while on the campaign trail, he
now says he doesn’t want the city to be forced to continue spending on
the streetcar project he adamantly opposes until November 2014, as would
be required under a traditional referendum.

If a 1930 Ohio Supreme Court ruling applies, Cincinnati could be responsible
for paying to move utility lines to accommodate for streetcar tracks,
but the city might be able to charge some of those costs back to utility
companies, according to a newly disclosed 2011 memo from a city
attorney to former City Manager Milton Dohoney. The memo is the latest
twist in the ongoing legal battle between Duke Energy and the city over
who has to pay $15 million to move utility lines for the streetcar
project. If the city loses the case, the cost of the project could climb
from $132.8 million to $147.8 million. But it’s still unclear how much
the 1930 case applies, given that the 1930 streetcar system was owned by
a private company and the 2016 version would be owned by the city.

Mayor Cranley and City Council agreed to delay
a vote on Willie Carden’s nomination for city manager to
give council members enough time to meet with the candidate one-on-one
and “digest” ordinances for his nomination. The nomination of Carden,
who currently heads the Parks Department, has been plagued by some
controversy because of Carden’s decision to live outside Cincinnati,
which violates the rules set by the city charter for the city manager, and recently uncovered ethics issues in which Carden wrongfully took pay from both the private Parks Foundation and city.

City Council also delayed voting on new rules for a week
to give council members more time to analyze and discuss the rules.
Until then, City Council will operate under the standard Robert's Rules
of Order. One possible change to the rules would increase the time given to public
speakers during committee meetings from two to three minutes.

The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday unanimously dismissed
a request to compel JobsOhio to disclose various documents. The court
argued that state law passed by Republican legislators largely exempted
JobsOhio from public record requests, which means the privatized
development agency can keep most of its inner workings secret.
Republicans argue the agency’s secretive, privatized nature is necessary
to quickly establish business deals around the state, while Democrats
claim the anti-transparency measures make it too difficult to hold
JobsOhio accountable as it uses taxpayer dollars.

The addition of measures that would create state and county councils to help get people off Medicaid ruined some of the bipartisan efforts behind Medicaid overhaul legislation,
but Republican legislators still intend to bring the legislation to an
Ohio House vote today. Republicans argue the controversial
amendments merely update the “framework” under which counties can
streamline efforts to get people off public assistance programs. But
Democrats say the last-minute measures might have unintended
consequences, including one portion that might give the state council
the ability to change — and potentially weaken — Medicaid eligibility
requirements.

An Ohio Senate bill would revamp and reduce teacher evaluation requirements
to make them less costly and burdensome for school districts. The
current standards require an annual evaluation of any Ohio teacher rated
below “accomplished” and, according to some school districts, create
high costs and administrative burdens that outweigh the benefits.

For the second time in two weeks, Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter left court in an ambulance after supposedly passing out in court. Hunter faces increasing pressure from higher courts to rule on long-stalled cases.

Streetcar opponents allow Sittenfeld to act like a leader in everyone’s face

By all accounts, yesterday’s special council session to
discuss the Cincinnati streetcar was long and contentious, more than 60 streetcar supporters
pleading with an indignant Mayor John Cranley and newly elected council members
still spouting campaign-trail anti-streetcar rhetoric.

After the meeting, Cranley dismissed an offer by major philanthropy organization The Carol
Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation to pay for a study of
streetcar shut-down costs that opponents want to see come in lower than the
city’s estimates before they vote to completely stop the project. Cranley dismissed
the offer because it also came with a note saying that if the streetcar is canceled the foundation will
reconsider its contributions to Music
Hall, the Smale Riverfront Park and other city projects. Cranley would rather make the city pay for the study than negotiate with terrorists respond to threats.

About seven and a half hours into this debacle of American
democracy — which included numerous procedural abnormalities including the
mayor asking Council to discuss and vote on ordinances no one had read yet, an hours-long
delay and a funding appropriation that leaves the cancellation vote safe from
the pro-streetcar-threatened voter referendum (something Cranley railed against
when the city administration kept the parking plan safe from referendum) — Councilman
P.G. Sittenfeld livened things up with something everyone tired of the streetcar
debate can agree is funny: undermining the mayor’s authority by asking fellow
council members to overrule him.

The following video published by UrbanCincy shows Cranley denying Sittenfeld an opportunity to speak. Sittenfeld then asks for a vote to overrule Cranley, which the mayor had to approve, and everyone but Kevin Flynn votes to overrule. (Flynn unfortunately had to vote first, leaving him unable to determine which way the vote was likely to go — a tough position for a rookie politician.) Once David Mann and Amy Murray voted to allow Sittenfeld to speak, the rest of the anti-streetcar faction followed suit, knowing Sittenfeld had the necessary votes to overrule Cranley. Then Sittenfeld spent a few minutes going mayoral on Cincinnati's new mayor.

Mayor John Cranley and a majority of City Council appear ready to pause the $132.8 million streetcar project
on Wednesday after moving forward yesterday with 11 ordinances that
aren’t susceptible to referendum. The bills allocate $1.25 million to
stop contracts tied to the project and hire expert consultants to study
what it would cost to continue or suspend the project — information a majority
of council plans to use to gauge whether the project should continue
after the pause. Streetcar supporters planned to hold some sort of
referendum on the pause ordinances, but Cranley, who previously spoke in
favor of the “people’s sacred right of referendum,” now says that the
city shouldn’t be required to continue spending on the project until
voters make a final decision in November 2014, as would be required
under a traditional referendum.

Meanwhile, the Federal Transit Administration yesterday announced it froze $44.9 million in federal grants for the streetcar
until Cincinnati agrees to move ahead with the project. The decision shows
Cranley and other opponents of the project were in the wrong when they
claimed they could lobby the federal government to reallocate the grant
money to other projects. But the decision should also come as little
surprise to the new mayor and council, considering federal officials
warned of the consequences of canceling the streetcar project on three
separate occasions in the past six months.

The Haile U.S. Bank Foundation also joined the fray
yesterday with an email to city officials plainly stating that the
streetcar project’s cancellation “will definitely cause us to pause and
reconsider whether the City can be a trusted partner” and endanger
contributions to the carousel in Smale Riverfront Park, the shared-use
kitchen at Findlay Market and the renovations of the Globe Building and
Music Hall. The email also offered to pay for a study that would
evaluate the costs of the streetcar project going forward. But Cranley
brushed off the letter as a threat and argued the Haile U.S. Bank
Foundation “can’t be a passive-aggressive dictator of legislative
process.”

Although his nomination to the city manager spot was initially met with praise, some are beginning to raise questions
about Willie Carden’s refusal to live in Cincinnati and his history,
including an ethics probe that found he was wrongfully taking pay from
both the city and private Parks Foundation. Councilman Chris Seelbach
said he’s also worried about the process for Cranley’s pick, which
didn’t involve a national search and never put any other candidates in
front of council.

Democrats on the Hamilton County Board of Elections have asked state officials to investigate Republican Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters for improperly voting.

Republican State Sen. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati plans to introduce
on Wednesday a new version of his overhaul of the state’s renewable
energy and efficiency requirements. The new version will dampen a plan
that would have allowed Canadian hydroelectric power facilities to
satisfy Ohio’s renewable energy requirements, but it will also allow
decades-old hydro plants along the Ohio River to fulfill the
requirement. Seitz and other supporters of the overhaul argue it’s
necessary to make the requirements friendlier to businesses and
consumers. But opponents of the bill, including businesses and
environmentalists, argue it would effectively ruin Ohio’s energy
requirements and, according to a study from the Ohio State University
and the Ohio Advanced Energy Economy coalition, cost Ohioans $3.65
billion more on electricity bills over the next 12 years. CityBeat covered the proposal in greater detail here.

Ohio schools can now tap into a $12 million program
to make their facilities safer through various new measures, including a
radio system directly connected to emergency responders, cameras and
intercoms. “Naturally, after Sandy Hook, I think we were all just
extremely upset about that, and you want to be able to do something,”
Republican State Sen. Gayle Manning told StateImpact Ohio.

A report found staff weren’t at fault for the high-profile prison suicides of Billy Slagle, whose case CityBeat covered in further detail here, and Ariel Castro, who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade.

Organization could become first to utilize city’s proposed domestic partner registry

Kim
Lahman was doing cartwheels in her mind for Metro this morning.

The
organization’s Ridership and Development Director celebrated Metro’s
announcement on Thursday that it will provide health and dental benefits to
domestic partners of its employees.

Lahman
said she has used same-sex partner benefits in the past, when she went back to
school.

“[My
partner and I] know first-hand what it means to have the flexibility and
equality as others do in the workplace,” Lahman said at a press conference at
Metro’s office. “This is just a fantastic day and I’m so proud that Metro is
able to do the right thing.”

Metro
is the first employer to say it will use Cincinnati’s domestic partner registry
if the initiative passes next week in City Council. Should it pass, Cincinnati
will be the 10th city in Ohio to have a domestic partner registry.

Mayor
John Cranley and City Councilman Chris Seelbach attended the press conference
and spoke in support of the move.

Cranley
called it “symbolically and substantively right” and during the
announcement shared a memory in honor of Maya Angelou, her poem “On the Pulse
of Morning” at former President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993.

“She
ended it with ‘Good morning,’” Cranley said. “I think this is a good morning
for Cincinnati, a new day.”

Many
of Cincinnati’s major employers, including Procter & Gamble, Kroger and
Macy’s offer same-sex and domestic partner benefits.

Seelbach
said while those companies already have systems to evaluate domestic
partnerships, the registry will give other companies like Metro an easy way to
provide those benefits.

“We
are now leaders in the nation and the region to make sure everyone is welcome
in our city, regardless of who they love,” Seelbach said. “Everyone should
bring their full self to their workplace and be able to do that with health
benefits for their partners.”

Seelbach
said while Metro is the first to say it will use the registry, other companies
like Cincinnati Bell have expressed interest.

Metro
is a nonprofit tax-funded public service of the Southwestern Ohio Regional
Transit Authority (SORTA) with around 850 employees.

One
of SORTA’s executive statements says the organization is committed to a work
environment that “promotes dignity and respect for all.”

Board
Chair Jason Dunn said SORTA’s commitment to inclusion is a great business
decision.

“It
shows that we value our employees,” Dunn said. “It shows that not only is Metro
on the cutting edge of transportation but also making sure we are open to
talent and we are open to retaining great talent in our system.”

Same-sex
partners with a valid marriage license, same-sex partners registered by a
government entity and same-sex partners with a sworn affidavit will be
recognized by Metro for domestic partner benefits, which will take effect
January 1, 2015.

Vice Mayor Mann set to introduce motion to save parking spaces

The city’s cost of a long-planned piece of
cycling infrastructure could more than double if City Council approves a
motion Vice Mayor David Mann planned to introduce on April 23.

Mayor John Cranley successfully paused
the Central Parkway Bikeway Project for public discourse in response to a
handful of business owners and residents taking exception to it, and a
spokesman for Mann shared his suggested compromise with CityBeat today.

In response to an April 21 special
Neighborhoods Committee meeting, Mann seeks to alter the bike route to
appease people who don’t want to see parking spaces removed, but the
updated plan will cost an additional $110,00 on top of the $82,600 the
city would pay under the original plan, which would create the beginning
of a cycling corridor running from Elm Street downtown to Ludlow Avenue
in Clifton. The project was supposed to break ground next month and
could lose $330,400 in federal money if the contract isn’t awarded by
May 1.

“We routinely spend hundreds of thousands
of dollars as a city to create new jobs in our community,” Mann said in
a statement. “We should not approve a new project that places 60 newly
created jobs in jeopardy when such a sensible accommodation is
available.”

The planned bikeway is an innovative
piece of cycling infrastructure meant to better protect cyclists along a
critical thoroughfare that would connect a number of inner-city
neighborhoods and business districts. The lane will be protected,
meaning cyclists will have their own lane with a buffer separating them
from traffic; in some areas plastic bollards will separate the bike and
automobile lanes. The street will not be widened, so traffic lanes will
be impacted through restriping, and parking will be restricted during
peak traffic hours in the morning and evening.

Opponents of the project are concerned
about losing public, on-street parking for parts of the day as well as
potentially encountering traffic issues from shaving lanes from Brighton
Place to Liberty Street. They also worry the bollards will become a
blight issue and emergency vehicles will be impeded during one-lane
hours.

Mann’s motion supports an alternative
plan for a section running from Ravine Street to Brighton Place that
would preserve 23 parking spaces full-time, alter 4,300 square feet of
greenspace and remove 15 trees at an estimated cost of $110,000. The
parking spaces would benefit a building owner and his tenants at 2145
Central Parkway.

City Councilman Chris Seelbach and others
demonstrated frustration with the administration’s interest in stepping
in at the 11th hour.

“I think we have reached a new era in
Cincinnati: two steps forward, pause, lots of long meetings, two steps
forward, and I’m convinced after the pause and lots of long meetings, we
will continue to go two steps forward today,” Seelbach said at the
April 21 meeting.

Mayor Cranley requested City Manager
Scott Stiles delay awarding a contract after meeting with local business
owner Tim Haines, who purchased a vacant building located at 2145
Central Parkway in 2012 for $230,000. His building now houses 65
employees from 12 different businesses including his own, Relocation
Strategies. Haines has become a mouthpiece for the opposition to the
bikeway — though he adamantly states he is not against the lane; he is
just against the project’s current incarnation as it affects Central
Parkway near his business, which utilizes 500 feet of on-street,
unmetered parking, which translates to 30 parking spaces.

“If parking wasn’t an issue, I would open
up my arms and welcome the bike path,” Haines says. “Parking for my 65
tenants is in jeopardy. As a business owner I have to fight for my
tenants. … Could they park and walk a quarter of a mile? They could, but
that’s not what they signed up for when they moved in.”

Haines has a 16-space parking lot
adjacent to his building that some of his tenants use and also owns a
parking lot across the street that is in disrepair. Haines says he
already cleared it of underbrush to cut down criminal activity and
disposed of dozens of tires and beer bottles. He says it would cost up
to $300,000 to upgrade the lot.

During the April 21 presentation,
Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE) Director Michael
Moore presented the committee with an alternative recently developed
with Cranley’s office that he said would appease Haines and his tenants
but would cost more money. Moore pushed the notion that the alternative
creates a more balanced bikeway plan.

The original plan, passed by council last
year, restricts parking in front of Haines’ building from 7 a.m. to 9
a.m. Moore’s alternative, which Mann is on board with, is to ramp the
bike lane over the curb adjacent to a sidewalk where there is currently a
tree-lined area in front of Haines’ building and another business in
order to preserve public parking full-time.

At the meeting, council member Young took exception to the suggestion of changing the project at this point.

“For the life of me, I don’t see where
the reasonableness and the balance is with people who come so far after
the fact that want us to make these changes and the dollar amount it’s
going to cost the taxpayers to get it done,” Young said. “I am appalled
that people can come after the fact and tie up all these people down
here to simply want accommodations for them.”

Mann shared another perspective.

“There’s a gentleman who has brought 60
jobs to the city, including some folks who have Parkinson’s and use the
building, and the proposal that’s being made seems to me to represent
balance,” Mann said. “We spend millions of dollars, typically, to
support development, to support jobs, and you’re saying that the
proposal that was originally approved by this council without a hearing
like this is so pristine that it cant be adjusted in any way, and if
it’s adjusted that is a statement of imbalance? I just don’t follow
that.”

For the past year and a half, DOTE
conducted surveys, sought public input and developed plans for the
bikeway. After a strong consensus, the department chose the protected
bikeway plan. The bikeway is estimated to add just three seconds of
motorist commute time by 2030, though some naysayers suggest that
delivery trucks will clog the lanes and the turn left from Ravine Street
will create an even longer lag.

Community outreach for the design began
in March of last year with eight community council meetings. Letters
were mailed to residents, businesses and property owners, but Haines and
several other business owners stated they didn’t receive any and
weren’t aware of the project until late last year.

A website designed for public feedback
also garnered about 600 messages mainly supporting the bikeway project.
DOTE held an open house last September and the Over-The-Rhine and
Northside community councils, Findlay Market and Northside Business
Association endorsed the project.

Simpson expressed frustration with halting progress for a last-minute meeting.

“I don’t think that’s an appropriate
process,” she said. “Really, technically you can go over everything over
the past two years. The reality is we need to look forward. If we want
to be less auto-focused and more focused on other types of transit,
we’re going to have to ruffle a couple of feathers.”

Supporters — some who biked to the April
21 meeting and utilized a bike valet setup in front of City Hall —
represented various groups of the community from health and community
councils to business owners and cyclists. Their number doubled opponents
— mainly business owners along Central Parkway in the West End and the
West End Community Council, though some West End residents and business
owners supported the original bikeway plan.

Mayor John Cranley is trying to find a compromise
over whether early voting will move out of downtown after the 2016
general election, as some Republicans in the county government
have suggested. Cranley called for a meeting with Hamilton County Board
of Elections Chairman and Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim
Burke, Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou,
Cincinnati NAACP President Ishton Morton and Hamilton County Board of
Commissioners President Chris Monzel. The meeting will aim to “discuss
alternatives the City of Cincinnati can offer to accommodate early
voting downtown after the 2016 elections. (Cranley) believes that such a
discussion is consistent with the recommendation of the secretary of
state that there be an effort to find a nonpartisan solution to the
existing disagreement.”

With a $12 million price tag in mind, Cranley remains worried
Cincinnati is paying too much for a downtown grocery and apartment tower
project. But the project is truly one of a kind, claims The Business Courier:
The tower would boast nearly twice the number of luxury apartments of
any other project underway in Over-the-Rhine or downtown. And it would
replace a decrepit garage and establish the first full-scale grocery
store downtown in decades.

A study found Ohio teens’ painkiller abuse dropped by 40
percent between 2011 and 2013. State officials quickly took credit for
the drop, claiming their drug prevention strategies are working. But
because the Ohio Youth Risk Behavior Survey only has two sets of data on
painkillers to work with — one in 2011 and another in 2013 — it’s
possible the current drop is more statistical noise than a genuine
downturn, so the 2015 and 2017 studies will be under extra scrutiny to
verify the trend.

Personal note: This is my last “Morning News and Stuff” and blog for CityBeat.
After today, I will be leaving to Washington, D.C., for a new
journalistic venture started by bloggers and reporters from The Washington Post and Slate. (CityBeat
Editor Danny Cross wrote a lot of nice things about the move here, and
my last commentary touched on it here.) Thank you to everyone who read
my blogs during my nearly two years at CityBeat, and I hope I helped you understand the city’s complicated, exciting political and economic climate a little better, even if you sometimes disagreed with what I wrote.

Flaherty & Collins, the developer that wants to tear
down a garage as part of its downtown grocery and apartment tower
project, offered to pay for a tenant’s move to keep the deal moving
forward. The tenant, Paragon Salon, recently announced its intent to sue
the city after Mayor John Cranley’s refusal to pay for the salon
business’s move left the development project and Paragon in a limbo of
uncertainty. With Flaherty & Collins’ offer, the development deal
should be able to advance without extra costs to the city.

Federal money will help Cincinnati keep and hire more
firefighters. The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response
(SAFER) grant provides nearly $8.1 million — about 2 percent of the
city’s $370 million operating budget — to pay the salaries and benefits
of 50 firefighters for two years. Afterward, the city will need to pick
up the costs, which could worsen an operating budget gap that currently
sits at $22 million for fiscal 2015. The move would increase the
Cincinnati Fire Department’s staffing levels from 841 to 879 and help prevent brownouts, according to the firefighting agency.

The Cincinnati Board of Health defied Mayor Cranley by
unilaterally pursuing a $1.3 million grant that will provide
preventative and primary care services to underserved populations. Rocky
Merz, spokesperson for the board, says the grant application complies
with guidance from the city’s top lawyer. Cranley opposes the grant because the extra services it enables could push up costs for the city down the line.

Hamilton County officials will look for outside legal help in
their fight against the city’s job training rules for Metropolitan Sewer
District projects.CityBeat covered the rules, known as “responsible bidder,” in further detail here.

Ohio’s prison re-entry rate declined and sits
well below the national average, according to a study from the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The study found 27.1
percent of inmates released in 2010 ended up back up in prison, down
from 28.7 percent of individuals released in 2009. In comparison, the
national average is 44 percent.

A second baby might have been cured of HIV, the sexually
transmitted disease that causes AIDS. Even with the potential successes,
doctors caution it’s still very much unclear whether the treatment
provides a definitive cure for the deadly disease.

A group of Greenpeace protesters face burglary and vandalism charges after a stunt yesterday on
the Procter & Gamble buildings. Protesters apparently teamed up with a helicopter to climb
outside the P&G buildings to hang up a large sign criticizing the
company for allegedly enabling the destruction of rainforests in
Indonesia by working with an irresponsible palm oil supplier. P&G
officials say they are looking into the protesters’ claims, but they
already committed to changing how they obtain palm oil by 2015.

Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC) will step in
to resolve the status of a downtown grocery and apartment tower
project. The previous city administration pushed the project as a means
to bring more residential space downtown, but Mayor John Cranley refuses
to pay to move a tenant in the parking garage that needs to be torn
down as part of the project. Following Cranley and Councilman Chris Seelbach’s request for 3CDC’s help, the development agency will recommend a
path forward and outline costs to the city should it not complete the
project.

Meanwhile, the tenants in the dispute announced today that
they will sue the city to force action and stop the uncertainty
surrounding their salon business.

Cranley insists politics were not involved in an
appointment to the Cincinnati Board of Health, contrary to complaints
from the board official the mayor opted to replace. Cranley will replace
Joyce Kinley, whose term expired at the end of the month, with Herschel
Chalk. “Herschel Chalk, who(m) I’m appointing, has been a long-time
advocate against prostate cancer, who's somebody I’ve gotten to know,”
Cranley told WVXU. “I was impressed by him because of his advocacy on behalf
of fighting cancer. I committed to appoint him a long time ago.”

The costs for pausing the streetcar project back in
December remain unknown, but city officials are already looking into
what the next phase of the project would cost.

Mayor John Cranley could dismantle a deal that would
produce a grocery store, 300 luxury apartments and a new parking garage
downtown. Cranley says he doesn’t want millions put toward the deal, even
though the developer involved plans to invest another
$60 million. Councilman Chris Seelbach says the deal isn’t dead just
because of the mayor’s opposition, and City Council could act to bypass
the mayor, just like the legislative body did with the streetcar project
and responsible bidder. To Seelbach, the deal is necessary to bring
much-needed residential space and an accessible grocery store downtown.

Cincinnati officials and startup executives will try to
bring Google Fiber, which provides Internet speeds 100 times faster than
normal broadband, to Cincinnati. Google plans to hold a national
competition to see which cities are most deserving of its fiber
services. “Over the last several years, Cincinnati’s innovation
ecosystem has made tremendous strides,” Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld said
in a statement. “We’re increasingly becoming a magnet for talented
entrepreneurs across the country who want to come here to bring their
big ideas to life. We need to ensure that we have the modern
technological infrastructure to make Cincinnati nationally competitive.”

Cincinnati’s operating budget gap for fiscal 2015 now
stands at $22 million, up from an earlier forecast of $18.5 million,
largely because of extra spending on police pushed by Cranley and a
majority of City Council. The city must balance its operating budget
each year, which means the large gap will likely lead to layoffs and
service cuts.

Cranley won’t re-appoint the chair of Cincinnati’s Board
of Health. When asked why, Chairwoman Joyce Kinley told City Council’s
Budget and Finance Committee that Cranley told her “he had to fulfill a
campaign promise.” Some city officials say they worry Cranley is putting
politics over the city’s needs.

Troubled restaurant Mahogany’s needs to pay back rent or
move out, The Banks’ landlord declared Monday. The deciding moment
for Mahogany’s comes after months of struggles, which restaurant owner
Liz Rogers blames on the slow development of the riverfront.

City Council yesterday expressed support for a barebones
parking plan that would upgrade all meters to accept credit card
payments and increase enforcement around the city, which should boost
annual revenues. The plan does not increase rates or hours at meters, as
Mayor John Cranley originally called for. It also doesn’t allow people
to pay for parking meters through smartphones. The plan ultimately means
death for the parking privatization plan, which faced widespread
criticism after the previous city administration and council passed it
as a means to jumpstart new investments and help fix the city’s
operating budget and pension system.

Councilman Christopher Smitherman plans to pursue changes
to the city’s political structure to give more power to the mayor and
less to the city manager. Smitherman says the current system is broken
because it doesn’t clearly define the role of the mayor. Under
Smitherman’s system, the mayor would run the city and hire department
heads; the city manager, who currently runs the city and handles hiring,
would primarily preside over budget issues; and City Council would pass
legislation and act as a check to the mayor. Smitherman aims to put the
plan to voters this November.

The Cincinnati Art Museum maintains five political
cartoons from the famed Dr. Seuss (Theodore Seuss Geisel), but none are
currently on public display. The cartoons call back to the history before
World War II, when most of the world played ignorant to the horrors of
the Holocaust and Americans had yet to enter the war. Dr. Seuss loathed the villains on the world stage, and his cartoons promoted a
message of interventionism that would eventually lead him to join the
Army to help in the fight against the Axis powers. When he returned home, he would
write the famous stories and books he’s now so well known for.

Mayor Cranley and some council members appear reluctant to
accept a routine grant application that would allow the Cincinnati Health
Department to open two more clinics because of the potential effect the
clinics could have on the city’s budget. Cranley and other council
members also seem concerned that the Health Department played a role in
the recent closing of Neighborhood Health Care, which shut down four
clinics and three school-based programs after it lost federal funding.

Ohio legislators approved a bill that forces absentee
voters to submit more information and reduces the amount of time
provisional voters have to confirm their identities from 10 days to one
week. For Democrats, the bill adds to previous concerns that Republicans
are attempting to suppress voters. The bill now goes to Gov. John
Kasich, a Republican who’s expected to sign the measure into law.

Seelbach touts measure to boost Cincinnati’s LGBT inclusion score

The mayor and a supermajority of City Council backs
efforts to establish a domestic partner registry for same-sex couples in Cincinnati,
Councilman Chris Seelbach’s office announced Tuesday.

If adopted by the city, the registry will allow same-sex
couples to gain legal recognition through the city. That would let
same-sex couples apply for domestic partner benefits at smaller businesses, which typically don’t
have the resources to verify legally unrecognized relationships, according to Seelbach’s office.

Specifically, the City Council motion asks the city administration to
reach out to other cities that have adopted domestic partner registries,
including Columbus and eight other Ohio cities, and establish specific guidelines.

Seelbach’s office preemptively outlined a few requirements to sign up: Same-sex
couples will need to pay a $45 fee and prove strong financial
interdependency by showing joint property ownership, power of attorney, a
will and other unspecified requirements.

“As a result of a $45 fee to join the registry, we believe
this will be entirely budget neutral, meaning it won't cost the city or
the taxpayers a single dollar,” Seelbach said in a statement.

If the plan is adopted this year, Cincinnati should gain a perfect
score in the next “Municipal Equality Index” from the Human Rights
Campaign, an advocacy group that, among other tasks, evaluates LGBT inclusion efforts from city to city.
Cincinnati scored a 90 out of 100 in the 2013 rankings, with domestic
partner registries valued at 12 points.

Seelbach expects the administration to report back with a full proposal that City Council can vote on in the coming months.

Proposal could increase parking enforcement, hours and rates

Mayor John Cranley on Feb. 12 officially unveiled his
plan for Cincinnati’s parking meters, lots and garages, providing the
first clear option for the city’s parking system since the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority agreed to halt the previous plan.

The proposal seeks to effectively replace the previous
administration’s parking privatization plan, which outsourced the city’s
parking assets to the Port Authority and several private companies, and maintain local control of the city’s parking assets.

Here’s a breakdown of the plan and all its finer details.

What is Cranley’s parking plan?

It’s a plan for Cincinnati’s parking
meters, lots and garages. More specifically, Cranley calls his proposal a
“framework” that focuses on upgrading the city’s parking meters and keeps City Council’s control of parking rates and hours.

Cranley’s plan, based on a Feb. 7 memo from Walker Parking Consultants, achieves his goals in a few ways:

• The city would issue bonds, backed by future parking revenues, to upgrade all parking meters to accept credit card payments.

• The amount of enforcement officers under the city’s
payroll would increase to 15, up from five, to provide greater coverage
of the city’s parking meters. (Currently, a few areas, including major
hubs like the University of Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine, are
effectively unenforced for two to five hours a day, according to Walker.)

• Neighborhood meter rates would go up by 25 cents to 75 cents an hour. Downtown rates would remain at $2 an hour.

• Sundays and holidays remain free.

Cranley says the underlying idea is to maintain a few key
principles, particularly local control over rates and hours. He cautions
Walker’s proposal, including expanded enforcement hours, could change with public input and as City Council puts together the final plan.

Does the plan let people use smartphones to pay for parking meters?

No. Cranley says the upgraded meters will support the
technology, but it will be up to council to decide whether it’s enabled in the
future.

Smartphone capability is a double-edged sword: It introduces its own set of costs, including shorter battery life for meters. It also allows customers to avoid under- and overpaying at parking meters, which decreases citation and meter revenues. But smartphone access also increases ease of use, which could lead to higher revenues by making it easier to pay.

The parking privatization plan promised to provide smartphone access at all parking meters. The previous administration and Port
Authority championed the feature as key to increasing convenience and revenue.

OK, that explains the parking meters. What about the parking garages?

Cranley’s plan makes two changes to garages:

• The Port Authority would take over Fountain Square South
Garage. The Port would be required to cover expenses for the garage,
but any net revenue could be used on projects within the city.

• The city would issue bonds, backed by future parking revenues, to build a garage at 7th and Broadway streets.

Otherwise, things remain the same as today.

In other words, the city would be on the hook for
parking garage repairs and upgrades, which Walker estimates would cost
roughly $8 million in capital expenses over the next five years.

But the city would also continue directly receiving around $2 million per year in net revenue from parking garages, according to Walker.

Still, the city isn’t allowed under state law to use the revenue from parking garages for anything outside the parking system.

The parking privatization plan tried to do away with the restriction by putting the Port Authority in charge of garages. State law allows agencies like the Port to tap into garage revenues for other uses, such as development projects.

But without the previous administration’s plan, Cranley claims the Port Authority declined to take over more facilities beyond Fountain Square South
Garage. Given the rejection, Cranley says it’s up to council to figure out another way to leverage garage
revenues beyond putting them back in the parking system.

What does Cranley’s plan do about the thousands of parking tickets already owed to the city?

Nothing. By Cranley’s own admission, the city needs to do a
better job collecting what it’s owed. But he says that’s something City
Council will have to deal with in the future.

So why did Cranley oppose the parking privatization plan?

Cranley vehemently opposed giving up local
control of the city’s parking assets. He warned that outsourcing meters to the Port Authority and private companies would create a for-profit incentive to
ratchet up parking rates and enforcement.

The previous administration disputed Cranley’s warnings.
They pointed out an advisory board, chaired by four Port Authority
appointees and one city appointee, would need to unanimously agree on
rate and hour changes, and the changes could be vetoed by the city
manager.

Without any changes from the advisory board, the 30-year privatization plan hiked downtown parking meter rates by 25 cents every three years and neighborhood rates by 25 cents every six years. The plan also expanded enforcement hours to 8 a.m.-9 p.m. in Over-the-Rhine and parts of downtown.

Still, City Council would lose its control of rates and hours under the privatization plan. Cranley and other opponents argued the outsourcing scheme could insulate the parking system from public — and voter — input.

Cranley also opposed the privatization plan’s financial
arrangement.

Under the old deal, the city would receive a lump sum of
$85 million and annual installments of $3 million, as long as required
expenses, such as costly garage upgrades or repairs, were met.

In comparison, the city currently gets roughly $3 million in net revenue from parking meters and another $2 million in net revenue from parking garages. (As noted earlier, the parking garage revenue can only be used for parking expenses.)

Cranley characterizes the lump sum as
“borrowing from the future” because it uses upfront money that could
instead be taken in by the city as annual revenue.

It solidifies the death of the parking privatization plan. That’s important to begin the process of legally dismantling the previous plan.

The plan also increases net parking meter revenues from roughly $3 million to $6 million in the next budget year and more than $7 million per year within five years, according to Walker’s original estimates. (The estimates are likely too high because they assumed evening hours would expand around the University of Cincinnati, Short Vine in Corryville, Over-the-Rhine and downtown. But Cranley shelved the expansion of hours, with no estimates for how the changes will affect revenues.)

Since parking meter revenue, unlike garage revenue, can be used for non-parking expenses, the extra revenue could help plug the $20 million gap in the $370 million operating budget.

Why do some people oppose Cranley’s plan?

Some people supported the parking privatization plan. They
saw the lump sum as a great opportunity to invest in development
projects around the city. Without the lump sum, critics claim Cranley’s
plan accepts all the pain of the previous plan — increased
enforcement, rates and hours — for very little gain, even though the city would get more annual revenue and upgraded parking meters and garages.

Politics are also involved. After the contentious
streetcar debate, there’s not much Cranley can do without some critics speaking out.

When will Cranley’s plan go into effect?

City Council first has to approve Cranley’s plan for it to
become law. Council will likely take up and debate the plan at the
Neighborhood Committee on Feb. 24 and set a more concrete timeline
after that.

This blog post will be regularly updated as more information becomes available. Latest update: Feb. 19.

Gov. John Kasich’s administration has led an aggressive
effort to shut down abortion clinics around the state, and a clinic in
Sharonville, Ohio, could be the next to close after the administration
denied a request that would have allowed the clinic to stay open without an
emergency patient transfer agreement. The process has apparently
involved high-ranking officials in the Ohio Department of Health, which
one regulator says is unusual. The
threat to the Sharonville clinic follows the passage of several new anti-abortion
regulations through the latest state budget, but state officials say the
new regulations were unnecessary to deny the Sharonville clinic’s
request to stay open.

Unions broadly support Democratic gubernatorial
candidate Ed FitzGerald’s campaign, but at least one union-funded group,
Affiliated Construction Trades (ACT) Ohio, seems to be throwing its
weight behind Kasich, a Republican. The surprising revelation shows
not every union group has kept a grudge against Kasich and other
Republicans after they tried to limit public employees’ collective
bargaining rights through Senate Bill 5 in 2011. ACT Ohio says its
support for Kasich is related to jobs, particularly Kasich’s support for
infrastructure projects. The jobs market actually stagnated after
Kasich took office, which some political scientists say could
cost Kasich his re-election bid even though economists say the governor isn’t to blame.